ALTON Line Users' Association (ALUA) is urging people to send in travel logs to support the next round in its fight for a better deal for local commuters. ALUA representatives are due to meet with South West Trains (SWT) management on Thursday, February 17, to try and thrash out the finer points in the 2005 timetable which has left some Alton passengers with a 79- minute off-peak journey from London Waterloo. According to ALUA chairman Chris Campbell, the slowness of the off-peak service is starting to have a detrimental effect on passenger numbers with some preferring to travel instead from other stations such as Hook. "There is a definite drop-off in off-peak travel as shown the other day by the empty spaces in Alton Station car park at 11-30 in the morning, which is unheard of," said Mr Campbell. Since the introduction of the new timetable in December, local rail users have seen the introduction of an extended off-peak service run on the slow track to take in stops at Surbiton, West Byfleet and Brookwood. And the trains are stopping for longer at stations such as Surbiton to build "a robustness" into the timetable which, according to SWT, is to enable the service to run to time. The only "fast" through trains run during a reduced rush-hour period between 05-45 and 08-15 in the morning and from 17-45 to 18.- 55 in the evening. According to Mr Campbell, while they will benefit from the introduction of later evening trains, those travelling on the Alton/Farnham to Waterloo line have been dealt a raw deal, with slower train times and the introduction of more stops, which will amount to a significant reduction in service. And that, said Mr Campbell, is "unacceptable". ALUA has asked local commuters to keep a log of their journey times to support a call for improved journey times and it is these logs which ALUA is hoping to collect in time for the Thursday meeting. The logs should be sent to ALUA secretary, Paul Barber at 25 Plovers Way, Alton, GU34 2JJ or by e-mail to [email protected]"">[email protected]">[email protected]">[email protected]">[email protected]"">[email protected]">[email protected]">[email protected]
